The one thing that the therapeutic benefits of fasting gives a person is the "ace in the hole" feeling that finally we have a tool that is not palliative like everything that the medical establishment throws at a person with a life threatening illness. It was designed into us at the beginning. We have always had it. It just takes a leap of faith to use it to our advantage. People with type II diabetes can be helped immensely with as little as two short 7 day water only fasts a month apart. They need to be supervised though if they are on metformin or insulin because the need of them decreases daily as the fast progresses. The books I read strongly suggest that all therapeutic fasts be supervised in a facility with people trained in fasting. Well, I don't have the resources to spend weeks in Toronto, Ontario which is the closest clinic. There is a church in Louisville, Ky., that supervises 21 day fasts, but same resource limits.